Abstract

Initial teacher education in the UK is arguably characterised by the signature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005) of lesson observation and evidence portfolios that demonstrate how far a trainee’s practice meets the criterion-referenced teachers’ standards (DfE, 2011).
In an international independent distance learning (IDL) programme, these practices are rendered more challenging by working remotely and asynchronously with trainees across time zones. Physical access to undertake lesson observation can be difficult logistically. Assessment may be hindered by the need for selective evidence, which may lack depth and nuance.
To fully understand and assess professional practice carried out at a distance requires a change in assessment practices. In recent years, the technological affordances of video-enhanced lesson observation and video calling with desktop sharing functionality have augmented the work of teacher educators (Hidson, 2020). This has the advantage of connecting candidate and assessor in a shared online dialogic space, as outlined by Wegerif (2007). From this perspective, dialogue can encourage reflection, elicit tacit knowledge, help construct additional evidence and lead to a negotiated appreciation of strengths and areas for development.
The Video-Enhanced Dialogic Assessment (VEDA) process being implemented makes use of these principles to complement formative and summative assessment of teaching practices and portfolios. It can most easily be imagined as an online viva voce interview, building on similar work in this vein by Carless (2002) and addressing logistical issues highlighted by Scott and Unsworth (2018), who used video vivas. Research being carried out in parallel continues to generate and transcribe data from dialogic assessment interviews, semi-structured interviews with candidates and assessors and electronic documentary records. These are analysed thematically to address a key research question: what evidence of practice is constructed through the VEDA process?
This presentation will share two key case studies from current practice. One focuses on the trainee teacher for whom formative video-enhanced dialogic assessment is part of their learning i.e assessment for learning as opposed to assessment of learning (Black and Wiliam, 1998). The other case study will present the summative high-stakes VEDA interview where the assessor must be confident that all the evidence presented demonstrates that the candidate meets the necessary teachers’ standards. It will explore the process of dialogic assessment and frame the outcomes as dialogically-constructed evidence. Finally, the presentation will demonstrate the relevance of VEDA during the current Covid-19 pandemic, where traditional campus-based teacher education has been interrupted, locked down and forced to seek alternative approaches.